INDIANAPOLIS -- Joe Banner's formula for winning football is easy to remember, though not necessarily easy to put together.

The team's CEO says the Browns won't become contenders until they get a quarterback they know they can win with, an offensive line to protect him and a defense that can put relentless pressure on the opposing quarterback. He won't predict how long it will take to find the three parts. He is not giving up on the possibility Brandon Weeden can be that quarterback, but he would not go into detail on how he projects last year's 22nd pick in the first round.

"It wouldn't be productive to be overly specific about that," Banner said Saturday morning during a breakfast with beat writers covering the Browns. "But I think we're telling you that we see potential that we're going to try to work with it and see what it's going to develop into. Some of that is just going to come from how bad he wants it. So I think we'll know a lot more than we know now shortly."

Advertisement

Free agency starts and trades can be made beginning on March 12. The Browns' offseason program starts on April 1, and a three-day veteran minicamp starts on April 15. The three-day draft starts April 25. Those are all key dates for Weeden and the Browns.

"This is what I think about the game and this will be our philosophy," Banner said. "The game is fundamentally about preventing pressure on your quarterback and getting pressure on the opposing team's quarterback. If you can do that, you have a chance to win any game against any team. When you can't do that, you're at a risk in any game ... (We want to) get to the point where we know we have a good quarterback.

"Then you start to build up from there. You're not done. You're not going to win a championship if that's all you have. But I don't think you have a serious chance until you have those things."

Banner said the Browns' offensive line is good and could get better. He was not satisfied with the way the defense played last year.

The Browns ranked in the bottom half of the league in 12 of 19 defensive categories in 2012, including overall defense (23rd), sacks per pass play (19th), first downs allowed per game (27th) and points per game (19th). They are switching to a 3-4 defense and want to blitz more under the leadership of new defensive coordinator Ray Horton.

"We felt like the defense wasn't good enough, to be very direct about it," Banner said. "We want to have a more aggressive, attacking defense, because we want to bring in more aggressive-minded players. We want to be risk-takers. We want to be attacking.

"We want the other team to be on the defensive. Even if we stayed in the 4-3, the defensive front (seven) needs some additions to be able to compete with the best in the league."

Banner said the Browns are unlikely to use their first pick (sixth overall) on a quarterback. A pass rusher or cornerback is a more likely possibility.

The Browns do not have a second-round choice because former general manager Tom Heckert used it in the supplemental draft last year on wide receiver Josh Gordon.

Banner would like to acquire a second-round pick by trading down. He said he expects some offers when the Browns are on the clock April 25. But if no trade is made, is Gordon worth not having a second-round pick? Gordon caught 50 passes and scored five touchdowns last season.

"It's to be determined," Banner said. "I think Josh has to keep working hard and improving. I'd be surprised if Josh didn't say there were things he was doing well and things he could be doing better.

"A top of the second round pick on a wide receiver, you would hope by the second or third year you'd have big, big impact player. I think he still has improvements he could make and there's hope that he can do that. He's still got to grow and work hard in order to answer that question."

Banner made similar remarks about Weeden.

"These are guys who have shown some potential," Banner said." But if they flattened at the level they are at now or didn't have the determination to be the best they could be because of work ethic and things like that, then they probably won't be good enough to be on a team that will try to win a championship.

"On the other hand, they seem to have the ability that if they are willing to make the commitment, take the coaching, be part of kind of the culture that we are going to create in the organization with the team that is going to be a very physical, determined, hard working group then maybe they can be part of the team."

Banner mentioned Weeden's work ethic one day after Coach Rob Chudzinski said: "Ultimately it's going to be on Brandon or on any player what they put it into and how much they commit to it. That's going to be the difference."

That raised the question of whether the current regime doubts Weeden's dedication.

"My impression was that he took coaching well. So, I'm hoping that will be a positive thing," Banner said. "We want to give him the best chance to succeed. We have a huge vested interest in him being successful.

"We're bringing in coaches that can maximize that. We think we have some existing benefits. I actually think the most valuable (thing) a quarterback can have is an offensive line that's good. He's in an unusual position of coming in as a rookie and inheriting a team that has a good offensive line. It will accelerate our ability to get to where we want to if he succeeds."

Banner made several other points before the NFL scouting combine got rolling later in the morning.

-- On free agency: "We're going to be an active, aggressive team in spending over the years. I say years on purpose. In a given year, depending on where you're at, you might not be but over the course of years we'll be on the aggressive end of team spending."

-- On the Browns' 13 unrestricted free agents: "We do know (if any free agents will be back), but we won't say. Let's say we're trying to sign them and I told you we want to bring them back -- that certainly wouldn't be a very smart thing from a negotiating perspective. If we weren't, we don't need to tell the other teams who's going to be free or not free any earlier than necessary."

-- On the Browns' sixth draft pick: "My history is in the area more of trading down than up or staying. Accumulating picks is a good strategy generally, but I don't go into it with any rules."